Mother Lode Trail and PCT enthusiasts, you’re invited to the Pacific Crest Trail Association’s 2019 Annual Meeting on Saturday, April 27, 2019 in Sacramento. It’s a great opportunity to hear about what volunteers and the organization accomplished for the PCT in 2018 and plans for 2019. It’s also a chance to meet PCTA staff and board members and socialize with other passionate folks from the PCT community.​The meeting begins at 3 p.m. in the Sierra Health Foundation’s Bannon Island Room at 1321 Garden Highway in Sacramento. Following the meeting will be an open house from 4:15-5:30 p.m. with refreshments and raffle prizes. Please RSVP to Leslie Sabin at or call 916-285-1852. We hope to see you there!

This meeting was in response to trail advocate organizations, adjoining landowners, and local government to address ongoing problems in Folsom Lake SRA. These minutes/plans for improvement were posted today by the Loomis Basin Horsemen's Association on their Facebook page. Some of these items have been in discussion with State Parks for sometime and will continue throughout the year. To help with these improvements, please download the Park Watch Report free for your phone at the App Store (parkwatchreport) or GooglePlay HERE.

UPDATE!The MLT calendar guru has been ill with the flu and won't be able to finish this project for another week. Thanks for your patience!

​============================Previously Posted 2/25/19Many people use the Mother Lode Trails CALENDAR tab to find out quickly what events are affecting the trails they wish to use. It's an extremely popular page on the website! But, a few months ago, the webmaster noticed that the UpTo calendar she was using for the website wasn't working correctly. The maps weren't posting, the past events disappeared, just general hinkiness.

After attempting for over a month to get tech support for the UpTo embedded calendar, she has given up. As far as we can tell, UpTo is no longer supporting their online calendar software. She will be embedding a new calendar this next week, but it will take several days to enter over 1,000 events (!) as the UpTo calendar has also ceased any export functions.

​We are fortunate to have the dedicated folks who keep up the Sierra Avalanche Center webpage, our backcountry avalanche, snow and weather information site for the greater Lake Tahoe area. Every day they update this site to help you stay safe whether you are hiking, skiing, or snow shoeing.

Sierra Avalanche Center functions as a private-public partnership between the US Forest Service and a 501(c)(3) not for profit organization. It is focused on educational and safety programs to support winter recreation and fundraising to support the financial needs of the program and the Board of Directors works jointly with the Tahoe National Forest.​​Please check Sierra Avalanche Center for daily avalanche forecasts.

While the Donner Lake Rim Trail and the Wendin Way Trail make Johnson Canyon, just above Donner Lake, a popular snow-free destination, it is a great place to explore while buried under feet of snow. With numerous aspects offering various routes wandering through open faces and wooded glades, Johnson Canyon offers jaw-dropping views of Donner Lake and the Sierra Crest.Snowshoers and skiers can either start from the Wendin Way trailhead just above Donner Lake Interchange, or from the Glacier Way Trailhead in Tahoe Donner. Click here to see a map and for additional information. Be aware that avalanches, while uncommon in the canyon, do occur on steeper slopes.From Glacier way, loosely following the Donner Lake Rim Trail out to the picnic area/overlook offers a relatively easy option with a few hills along the way, culminating in amazing views across the top of the canyon, down toward Donner Lake, and out across the Sierra Crest. Frog Lake Cliff, Castle Peak and more can be seen from here.From Donner Lake Interchange, you can head up numerous directions depending on snow conditions and safety, passing through willows, Jeffrey pines, fir, mountain alder and aspen with changing views of the surrounding ridges and Donner Lake. While Johnson Canyon can often be very peaceful and serene, it is important to know that snowmobilers also use the area.Avalanche safety education and equipment are strongly recommended for Johnson Canyon. A beacon check station is available at the Donner Lake Interchange trailhead. Please check Sierra Avalanche Center for daily avalanche forecasts.

The race will begin at the Magnolia Ranch Trail Head parking lot off Hwy 49 in Pilot Hill, then take the Hidden Valley Cut Off Trail and begin climbing towards the Pedro Hill parking area, then will then begin ascending the West Ridge Trail. Runners will run the ridge before a long descend ending near the South Fork of the American River. Coming off the overlook runners will begin descending to the Salmon Falls parking area on a hill known locally as “Red Dragon”. The route continues on from Salmon Falls showcasing the Sweet Water Creek trail system. Runners will continue on rolling single track trail until Browns Ravine Marina area. A few miles after Browns Ravine runners with arrive at Dike Eight, one of the largest dikes which make up Folsom Lake.Runners will end the race by running across the top of Dike Eight to finish at Folsom Point recreation area.

If you are not a participant in this race, please use other trails on that day.

February 14, 2019 at 11:24 AM State Parks is closing both sides of the old 49er Bridge and the access road. The hillside is highly unstable and more rockfalls and mudslides are expected. Boulders and trees have come down, crushed the restrooms and the parking lot has experienced mud and rock slides. Save your own life and that of the first responders by staying out of the area. The hillside is highly unstable and more rockfalls and mudslides are expected.

The Supes approved funding for Placer's Hidden Falls Park Park study yesterday, but neighboring landowners of the expansion continue to speak out against Bell Road proposal. Placer County’s move to create a new public-access point to Hidden Falls Regional Park has $50,000 more in funding. (photo of existing parking area)The funding was approved Tuesday by the Board of Supervisors on a 5-0 vote, with supervisors Jennifer Montgomery and Jim Holmes saying their “yes” votes didn’t mean the proposed entrance and parking lot on Bell Road was approved or met their approval. Montgomery amplified her point by asking Parks Administrator Andy Fisher whether one of the alternatives in the study will be for no project. Fisher said that was the case, adding that the $50,000 would help come up with solutions for some of the problems the Bell Road access point could conceivably cause.Both Montgomery and Holmes said increased traffic on the road caused by a new access is a concern.“I support the motion but that doesn’t mean I support the project,” Holmes said. “Traffic analysis will be key. It’s one of my primary considerations.”The new funding increases the amount in a consultant services agreement with AECOM Technical Services to $283,000 from $233,000. The county is exploring the possibility of an access point in the 5300-block of Bell Road in North Auburn as part of Hidden Falls trails expansion.Opposition has been steady to the access-parking lot idea and public comment at Tuesday’s meeting on the funding increase reflected that concerns are continuing.Jim Goddard, an Auburn, Placer resident for 42 years, said people who invested early in the Placer Legacy land preservation program “would be appalled with what’s going on. Two-thirds of the Hidden Falls visitors are from outside Placer County and “contribute nothing,” he said. “The choice is clear, support those who do not live in the county or support those who live in the county.”Lloyd Harvego, a property owner near the park, said he wants the county to “sit down and talk with us. I’m a supporter of what you do but there are real complications on the road,” Harvego said.​To see the complete article in the Auburn Journal newspaper, CLICK HERE.

Report from the Folsom Lake State Recreation Area Superintendent's office:The Bureau of Reclamation is completing construction improvements as part of its Safety of Dams program. They are doing reclamation safety work on Folsom Dam with these trail detours as a result. ​Affected are Folsom Reservoir’s Mormon Island Auxiliary Dam and Dikes 1, 4, 5 and 6 in the Folsom Lake State Recreation Area.

The construction work will result in the temporary closure of the trail across the top of Dikes 4, 5 and 6 between Beals Point and Granite Bay through July 2019. Signs and maps will be posted at each end of the closure identifying the detour route.